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Five things I have learned from my patients

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1. Cancer sucks.

2. Take no day for granted.

3. I will probably get in trouble for this, but hey! That's what the comments section is for … Breast cancer is not the only cancer out there, despite the number of pink ribbons you see. All cancers are awful, and more cancers deserve equal play time.

4. Hoping for a miracle can mean different things to different people.*

5. Going with palliative care is not "giving up the fight.” Or, there can be great meaning not only in life, but in death.

* This comes from a real-life patient of mine. He was an 80-something gentleman who was recently diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. She was his loving wife of 50+ years. We were trying to help them decide between radiation therapy and hospice. She said she wanted "a miracle" which I assumed meant a cure. But I did what the communications people tell you to do (Hi, Tony Back!) and asked her what that meant. And she said, "One more day with my beloved husband.” Huh. OK, let's do radiation therapy then. And in the end, they were glad they did it. And I was glad I asked that extra question.